Fun! Fun! Minigolf Review

Wii Sports golf - which, lest we forget, comes bundled for free with the Wii console - offers a taste of what playing golf with a Wii Remote can be like. However, with only nine holes and a clunky putting mechanism that can often feel inaccurate, the game is just not satisfying enough to capture the hearts and minds of hardcore putters. Fortunatly, just as the concept of Mini Golf is a viable alternative to the full-blown game in real life, so is the case on Wii. Nanostray creator Shin’en has come to the rescue and served up a beautiful minigolf game with spectacular 3D graphics -- but is this game about little more than good looks, or is the gameplay up to par?

The graphics truly are among the best we’ve seen on Wiiware, with bold colours and bags of character. Even so, they are what could be described as GameCube quality, so it’s not exactly a technological marvel. There is visible pixelation, especially in the characters, even when displayed in 480p. Still, the graphics are certainly easy on the eyes.

You have a choice of 27 holes across three 9 hole courses. Each course represents a different difficulty level. It goes without saying that you can blast through all 27 holes in less than an hour if all you want to do is see them, but the challenge of minigolf is to get a good score, and this will require you to play each course repeatedly to learn the best shot for each course.

The skill difficulty is slightly uneven. We made it through the easy level course with no problems, landing four holes-in-one on our first play through. That’s good, because it’s the easy level after all and not everyone is blessed with innate putting skills. The problem comes in the medium and hard levels when, mixed among some modestly difficult holes, you will run into holes that are (golf)ball-bustingly difficult: holes so confusing that after 6 failed swings when the game moves you on to the next hole, you’ll wonder if a solution even existed.

Part of the problem is the concept of "out of bounds." Maybe we don’t know as much about minigolf as we thought, but we’ve always played the ball where it lies. Meaning after each stroke, you hit the ball from where it ended up. That is NOT the rule in Fun! Fun! Minigolf. Here, the course has a narrowly defined white line bounded area within which the ball remains in play. If the ball goes outside of this area, it is out of bounds. On many courses this means you must get a hole-in-one or else you will always be out of bounds. If you don’t land the ball in this tiny area near the hole, then you are penalized a stroke and must try again from the starting point.

Sometimes, after much trial and error, you will get the ball near the hole, but it will be moving slightly too fast and bounce back out of the "in bounds" area. This is when you will be grateful for the reminder notice to attach your Wii remote strap before play, as golf rules usually require you to throw your club whenever this happens.

The gameplay is somewhat different from Wii Sports golf in that in addition to controlling your aim and the strength of your swing, you must also time your shot to keep your aim on target. A simple mechanic of a targeting crosshair swinging back and forth shows you when to swing. Frankly, this feels like a step backwards to a time before the Wii remote. Nevertheless it does add an extra layer of challenge to line up not only exactly the right strength of swing, but at the right time as well. This mechanic requires more concentration and therefore rewards the more skilful player.

Fun! Fun! Minigolf provides no options to customise the game settings: none at all. In our interview with Shin’en we asked if weather effects would be a feature. They said no because things like rain and wind were "too unrealistic." While this is true and most people would not play minigolf in the rain, we have to wonder if it might not have been worth the effort to put it in anyway, since as things are, there are simply no toys to play with to make the game fun for a longer period. Similarly, there are no high-score leaderboards or unlockable items to reward the player for getting better. What you see is what you get from the moment you first fire up the game.

Because of this lack of features, the only reason for repeat play is if you have a friend or three present to play with you. This is where Fun! Fun! Minigolf shines, as the multiplayer aspect is as fun as the real thing. But as with the single player game, some of the more difficult holes are impossibly hard to make on your first attempt. This means you and your friends are stuck with the easy 9 holes, as the harder 18 are not "fun fun" for the new players.

Conclusion

Fun! Fun! Minigolf provides a satisfying first time play through on the easy difficulty holes and will frustrate you to no end if you are up to the challenge of figuring out all of the harder 18 holes. Minigolf fans will enjoy the challenge, but for everyone else this game is of average entertainment value. It is, in many ways, just another puzzle game for Wiiware. There are only one or two "solutions" to each hole, and your challenge is to figure them out. Once you have done so, the game has little in the way of repeat play value. The problem-solving aspect isn’t a bad thing, however; if anything, it’s the only reason to keep coming back. We just wish the game offered more of a reason to encourage repeat play than the high difficulty level.

The Wii has three full retail released mini golf games alreadySeriously?How many of those 3 are quality games?

and at least two other mini golf games included within other games.That has nothing to do with anything.There are still people who want a quality game entirely devoted to mini golf.People aren't going to pass up Mario Kart and buy Mario Party for a kart-racing mini game.

So, there are already a bunch of mini golf games out there.Yeah 5 is a ton.And 80% of those aren't worth looking at.But that's good. Why ask for more games?I know some people have that whole "more games is better" mentality but I suppose not wanting more games could be just as good.

Carnival Games Mini-Golf is a blast. We play that game all of the time at our house. I'm surprised to hear people bashing it. I was hoping to get this mini-golf game as well, but the review is disappointing and I certainly don't want my mini-golf game to be frustrating. Frustrating does not equal fun, fun!

Don't take me so literally It really is a minigolf game. But sometimes it feels like a puzzle to figure out.

And just as a reminder for everyone, a 6 is 'not bad'. That means if you like Minigolf then you will almost certainly enjoy this game. I like it and fully intend to play it again from time to time. But for gamers in general I wouldn't exactly classify it as the greatest thing ever.

Judge a game by the review, not the score. Heck, my last review, Big Kahuna Party, got a 6 too and that's probably my favorite game on Wiiware right now!

Like many other people commenting here, I give this game an 8/10 too (in the WiiWare ratings thread on VC-F). The graphics are great, and the controls are nice and tight and responsive.

While the out-of-bounds mechanic was the main problem I had with the game as well, I don't think it detracted THAT much from the game. The "in-bounds" areas are not as small as this review makes them sound, and NO hole requires you to get a hole-in-one to remain in-bounds.

The lack of extra features (especially ridiculous features like weather effects) are not a big issue, nor is the lack of stuff to keep you interested in multiple play-throughs, since you shouldn't be playing this alone anyway. The thing that's going to keep you interested in playing this game multiple times is not leaderboards (puh-leaze, why does everyone fall back on this as the bastion of replay value for every kind of game—they have their place) but competition between multiple players. The first course is easy, and me and all my friends easily get great scores, but the fun part was competing to win against those other golfers. We had a great time with it.

Anyone who was keen on trying this out shouldn't be dissuaded by one single "not bad" review, because reviews from many other people who've played the game are coming in better than "not bad".

Just to clarify, there are some holes with no 'in bounds' area at all. Especially on the hard difficulty. For these holes, you are required to get through in one stroke. Not technically a 'hole-in-one' if you miss five times before succeeding, but the result is the same.

Fun Fun minigolf has gamecube quality graphics?Wow im so confused. Im gunna wait and see IGN`s review and if thats bad then im for sure not getting this!@alexsaysI love it when you outsmart the new people to this website. And i like to take over sometimes when your not there lol

Is the out-of-bounds mechanic just preventing people from putting against the wall?Like in real mini-golf, it's impossibly to putt the ball when it's RIGHT against the wall. So you usually have to move it a couple inches away.

Does the out-of-bounds thing prevent unrealistic shots?In this image it looks as if a ball hit outside the white line (right against the wall) would be classified as out-of-bounds.If that's the case then that's perfectly okay since moving the ball away from the wall deserves a stroke penalty anyway.

@Shadows: No one shall defy x.SuperM- I mean, AlexSays! Well, except maybe Corbie (that should keep him from switching my avatar for a while).

As for the game: it's a shame they added in the out of bounds feature, because I was expecting this to be really good. Either way, I'm still going to give it a go, since 6 isn't exactly "STAY AWAY" bad, is it? I had fun with Home Sweet Home and TV Show King despite their scores, so this should keep me happy as well. Opinions after I get the game.

I'm glad I downloaded this one before the review. I might not have given it a second thought after the review but I'm actually enjoying it. It does get repetative but I still find myself wanting to back to it for a better score. It would be cool if they had more courses though. Also, this seems like it would be a lot of fun playing with other people.

@wiiloveithaha nice save.@Gabbowhat wii games have worse graphics than GCN games!? I have gamecube right next to me! Comparing paper mario thousand year door to super paper mario on wii super paper mario isnt so blocky and its brighter and more colourful. Mario Sunshine to Mario Galaxy comparing them, galaxy has the WAY upper hand on the graphics side and well in general. ...and yes i could very well go on.

Fun fun minigolf was truly the game that i was depending to “finally” get me into minigolf but it failed. sob

@Gabbo: You'd better edit that to say "In fact, [GameCube games' graphics are] often better than Wii game graphics, due to naff developers" - unless you want to kick off a "Wii is GC with waggle and grannies" argument (although an argument like that wouldn't get very far on a Wii website).

@shadows262Well of course you point to Mario Galaxy. It's only one of the best looking games on any platform .

But there are now hundreds of sloppy retail Wii releases out there that, graphics wise, just don't even come close to what the Wii is capable of. Take a look at Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 and then tell me that the average Wii game looks better than that.

@gabboyes i agree with you on twilight princess and RE4 but just look at Smash Bros. Brawl to Smash Bros. Melee and Mario kart DD to Mario kart wii.

Medal of honors on wii to GCN, Call of dutys on wii to GCN, and so on and so forthAnd theres upcoming wii games thats show “great graphics” too, such as Sin and punishment 2, Monster Hunter 3, The Conduit, Punch out wii, Little Kings Story, Sonic and the Black Knight, etc.Yet, just comparing the capabilities of the GCN to the wii. The wii has Online, a downloadable service, and great third party support! GCN has none of those.

GCN is still my favorite system but if the wii keeps this up the wii is gunna beat it-by far!!

@Gabbo: minigolf game, puzzle game, puzzling minigolf game . . . no matter what the case, there are far too many high-quality vc games available for me to be messin' about with the likes of this.

Life's too short for 6/10 games.

That oughta be on a t-shirt.

Thanks for the extremely well-written and thorough review, by the way. You saved me 900 wii points. I'm sure it is a decent minigolf game, but I was hoping for more, and something with some replay value. And their concept of "out of bounds" would frustrate the heck out of me, I'm sure.

Thanks for the list of games with good graphics, but none of that contradicts my thesis that many games released for the Wii use graphics that look no better than, or even worse than, what the Gamecube is capable of. I agree that the Wii has a better graphics card than the Gamecube. That's a given. But not all developers make use of it!

Back on topic, the graphics in this game really are very pretty. I'm sure the developers spent a lot of time on them. These aesthetic qualities alone will certainly make the game worthwhile for many people.

Still, these graphics are good only by comparison to other Wiiware games. A downloadable game has to squeeze into a very small file size and so there just isn't enough room to fit in true Wii quality graphics. Given the limitations of the Wiiware service, this is probably about as good as we can expect regarding 3d graphics, unless the file size limits go away.

"The graphics truly are among the best we’ve seen on Wiiware, with bold colours and bags of character. Even so, they are what could be described as Gamecube quality, so it’s not exactly a technological marvel."

And this is a problem? Last I checked, Gamecube games still looked awesome. Besides, this is WiiWare we're talking about. Even if it's a part of Wii, the memory constraints tend to mean we're usually dealing with N64 graphics.

The "out of bounds" thing sounds very off-putting to me. And yet, I vaguely recall playing a real-life minigolf game that had those white boundaries, including some that put those boundaries close to the hole despite there being a ton of empty space around it. I dunno, it's been years since I've played minigolf. And I also remember playing minigolf without the boundaries, and it was simply a matter of keeping your ball within the barrier. Dunno, can we see some screenshots of the more boundary-crazy holes?

Also, does the game have a freeplay option? I wanna be able to try out individual holes without having to play the whole nine courses.

@16. AlexSaysWait, there's no left-handed option? Two people in my family are left-handed. I really hope that isn't the case.

@The silly Gamecube graphics vs Wii graphics debateYou people pointing out awesome-looking games like Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros Brawl, well of COURSE those games are gonna look awesome! They're big-name titles! I think the general comment aboug some Gamecube games looking better than some Wii games, some Wii games (key word: some) did not, in fact, get much of a budget in the graphics department.

@31. shadow262What are you bringing up functionality for? We were talking about graphics.

It looks like a lot of people are being turned off on this game because of the out of bound feature. I actually think that it along with the "time your shot" meter make it a better game. It forces you to plan your shot out rather than just hacking away at the ball on each hole. Actually if it wasn't for this and the meter, I would probally tire of this game pretty quickly. Instead I am wanting to replay through these and improve. Last nite I wasn't even able to get one shot within the target zone on some holes, now I have figured out where and what I need to bank the ball of off and can clear it. For me, Mini Golf has always been about problem solving when I have played on actual courses. Example: There is a simple L shaped hold. You can take two strokes to reach the hole. Lightly hit the ball straight forward into the corner of the L, then take you second shot to the hole. Or you can use the bumber that's placed in the corner of the L, bank the ball and end up closer to the hole in one shot. Because of the "out of bounds" rule, the later example is exactly what the game is forcing you to do. Once I master each hole, I am going to be dying for new, more difficult challanges from these guys.

Like I said before, if this game was appealing to you before, I would drop the points on it. I was waiting on a review for this game to see how the mechanics/motion control handled, but there was no info anywhere on it . I decided to take a chance, got it, enjoyed it, and wrote a a short review which I will repost in the next comment if you haven't seen it. By no means am I trying to steal this guys thunder, he did a great job. I like mini golf, Wii Sports golf and Tiger Woods 09 for the Wii, couldn't wait for this game. Being a fan of this small niche, genre type of game, I think what I have to say is from a different stand point.

I have been looking forward to this game for a while but there is barely any info on it now that it is out so I decided to pull the trigger and drop the points on this title. This is my first review on anything, ever, so keep that in mind. Hopefully this will help you decide on whether or not to make a Fun! Fun! purchase, not show of my grammar skills.

A whopping 302 blocks at $9.00.

Presentation:

~Great looking menus that are simple and quickly get you into the game ~4 Insanely happy looking characters to choose from. No seriously, these characters are way to happy to be playing mini golf! ~No Mii support as expected. ~Awesome graphics. Hands down the best I have seen with a Wiiware game. ~Upbeat generic music. Good sound effects. ~Very detailed backgrounds/courses. Course in background adds to the feeling that you are actually playing on site. ~Controls handle very well. No problems as of yet.

Gameplay:

I hate to do this, but I would compare the gameplay to putting in Wii Sports Golf but on steroids. Using the directional pad to line up shots, rotate the character using left or right. Hit up on the d-pad and it centers your character back into their starting position. Shots are lined up using a dotted line similar to old school pool video games. This starts at the ball and runs the length of the hole till it hits a wall or obstacle. To my surprise the projected path line does not "bounce" of objects which really makes the game more challenging. Hitting down on the d-pad changes the camera view.

There are three different camera views. The first is centered behind the character which is useful when taking your swing. The second view positions the camera a few feet above the characters eye level letting you scope out the hole and in some cases lets you plan your shot better. The third camera angle is to the right of your character and gives you a shot of half the hole from the side. This angle confuses me because it doesn't really serve any purpose other than looking at the course in the background. Sometimes in the first two camera views, obstacles block the hole and you are left guessing on the best possible path. They should of added a fourth camera position behind the hole to let you plan shots out a little more. I don't expect this to be a big deal once you play through a course a few times and are familiarized with the holes, but it would of been a nice touch.

After you have your shot lined up, your focus will be on a shot timing meter. Holding the A button and assuming a putting position, you need to time your shot when you swing. This is where the game gets interesting. Holding down A brings up a picture of a golf ball with a blue stripe running horizontally across it. In the middle of the blue stripe is a white circle. A tiny dot bounces left to right along this stripe, it take the dot about one full second to go along this stripe. Swing the Wiimote while the tiny dot is in the middle of the white circle and you hit the ball perfectly straight. Hit it while the dot is to the right of the circle and it slightly curves to the right. While not groundbreaking or anything, this adds a lot to the game. Your having to time your shots, not just step up and swing away like a maniac. The game recognizes the stroke of the Wiimote great, it's just a matter of becoming familiar with the strength of the swing power. There is a small "Swing" meter onscreen. It records your current swing and will keep it on screen till your next stroke. This serves as a learning tool, nothing more. From the starting position, your initial stroke needs to end fairly close to the hole in a target zone or it will be considered out of bounds, penalizing you with a stroke and forcing you to stay in the tee off area. Each hole has a target zone outlined in white, some areas are large while others are only a few feet wide. So in short, make your initial shot into this zone to play where it lies or start over again. I enjoyed this because it was more of a challenge but expect some players to get frustrated with it. With this being a Wiiware title I was curious about the accuracy of motion registration/sensitivity using the Wiimote, but am pleased to say that I had no problems with the first play through.

Courses:

There are nine holes to for the three courses. The first course (U.S.) is the easiest containing straightforward shots. I expect people to learn the game mechanics on this one. Once players have a feel for the game, they will likely return to this one only in party mode when playing with newcomers. The second Course (Asia) is labeled as medium but revs up the difficulty to what I expected the third course to be. Lot's of ramps and introduction of shots that need to banked of the sides of the holes boundaries. The last course (Europe) is insanely hard and I don't expect to play on that one for I bit.

My main beef with this game is where are all the wacky holes?! Don't get me wrong, these courses with their elaborate backgrounds are spectacular for a Wiiware title. If a sequel is made, I think they need to scrap the realistic feel and create courses with more of classic 80s Putt-Putt feel. Shoot the ball through the windmill with a moving blade, jump a ramp through the scary-as-hell clowns opening and closing mouth, and navigate a shot through few stationary dinosaurs legs. I guess what I am trying to say is that Shin'en did a awesome job with the game mechanics and the holes are designed very well, but sitting here writing this, nothing really sticks out in my mind. Maybe adding down loadable content for this game would of been a good idea? I would slap down some Wii points for an original themed course. A spooky nine holed haunted course theme?! Oh yeah! A course over-run with martians and a hole that uses a crashed UFO as a ramp?! Bring it on!

My Closing comments:

I really enjoyed this game and know that I will get more than my monies worth out of it. If you enjoy Wii Sports Golf or have been keeping an eye on this one I would definitely recommend it. Actually this game is a smaller version of what I had hoped Capcoms "We Love Golf" to be. I do have a few complaints though. Covered earlier, I think there needs to be at least one more camera angle to help you plan out your shots. Adding a practice swing meter/function would of been use full also.By no means are any of these deal breakers. If this one was on your radar, I would support these guys and pick it up.

all im sayin` is that these graphics arent gamecube graphics. If you had a gamecube (which im questioning myself if u do or not hmmm?) you would know this.Please name a couple games on the wii that have worse graphics than the GCN?

From the sound of things, its better to buy it for the multiplayer. Seeing how I have to rely on wifi multiplayer, can't really do much with this game. One reason I haven't went back to Midnight Pool. Good game too, but its better with more people to play with.

I knew that a game that enphasized itself to be fun is not as fun as declared? (Paradoxial, yet the great games usually do not enphasize their fun value; they let their graphics, sound, gameplay, plot, and other fixings speak for themselves in a way.)

"This is when you will be grateful for the reminder notice to attach your Wii remote strap before play, as golf rules usually require you to throw your club whenever this happens."That is a rule I would gladly break.(Excuse me; I just wanted to get that out of my stomach...)

@shadows262Okay, you got me! I must not own a Gamecube and, therefore, must also not own a Wii which has a Gamecube in it!

Okay, let's lay this out one last time. I'm not making an argument, just pointing out a fact. Wii fans do their first rate console no favors by apologizing for and/or denying the existence of crappy games. So here's a little truth:

Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 are two examples I have already given of the excellent graphics the Gamecube is capable of. You are claiming the entire Wii library-every single game- is visually superior to every gamecube title, including these two examples I have previously mentioned. And now you would like me to give you two examples of Wii games with worse graphics than these two gamecube games?

@AlexSaysBut this battle was fun! Anyway, you're right. I've wasted too much time on this when I should have been working on that Tiki Towers review. ....Well would you look at at that. It's done! (Pending editorial review, of course)

@gabbowhatever man if you can only name 2 specific games that have the same graphics then fine by me but since you cant name any other games...its okay.Im not tryin` to be an ass or anything. oh ya and i'm just throwing out the fact that the wii is 50% more powerful than the GCN graphics wise.

Last time I've been at a minigolf course there was a bounds line too and the rules stated that if you don't make it into that you play again from the start, I don't remember any 1 shot penalties for it though (noone cared about the rule though). Generally if the ball didn't pass the obstacle (if present) you'd always have to start again (this was also spelled out in the rule text, not just implied by the lack of the line, in fact I think the bounds were defined entirely in the text and the line was just a guide), would probably have been a good rule to follow since the obstacles are designed to be approached from a certain position. Behind the obstacle the bounds seemed to end near walls that would probably make a shot difficult.

Of course that minigolf course also had the name plates of the courses include a sketch of the course with a line showing how you'd have to shoot for a hole in one...

RE: Wii / GC graphical debateI see what you're all saying, but the fact is that the GameCube's power wasn't utilised to it's fullest either, meaning that we'll most likely end up with the full capactity of the Wii being used in the next gen Ninty console instead. Goodness knows why they put all that power in there.On the bright side, there are some games that look top next year, such as Sin & Punishment and... erm...If it still exists, Sadness is supposed to be epic as well.

No matter what the review says, I'm still not interested in this game. I just can't stand Mini golf. Now if it were regular, non-putting oriented golf with courses that aren't completely f***ed up, then it would be a different story entirely.

@gabooyeah i know. I really wish the wii had a hard drive. And have you seen some of wiis upcoming games lately. they have some really good graphics indeed.Monster Hunter 3 and The Conduit are 2 examples.

I wanted to add an additional comment. It also needs a leaderboard to get an 8 out of 10. I still think 7/10 is the right rating for it but the deveopers were lazy in not adding some simple things such as high scores with allowing you to put your initials. It would also be nice if you could name your players.

So, I like mini-golf, and I like fun! How could this go wrong? Well, Fun! Fun! Minigolf will frustrate even the most seasoned gamer. The putting controls aren't sensitive enough to recognize slight movements of the hand, so you end up having to wail on the ball more often than not, ending up with the incessant chanting of the phrase: "....... Out of bounds!" What's more frustrating is how clear it is they attempted to copy the style of games like Hot Shots and PangYa (Albatross18 in the States), yet fail to copy even the basic playable conventions of those franchises. It's got the superficial look and feel of its parents, but none of their charm or playability.

I give this disappointment a 4/10. And it's too bad. I was looking forward to a fun, simple golf game.

I wish there was a way that we could demo the game or any other wiiware game for that matter. VC not so much because most of us have played it before, But WW should be demo-able....(demo-able is totally a word)

I always read this site as the reviews usally are very deep and to the point. But at this time I totally disagree with the unbalanced style of the review which seems to show only that the player was frustrated and gave it a bad score. So let me put some things straight:

Overall: Fun! Fun! Minigolf is the best electronic minigolf game I ever played. Because of the wiimote control it is easily more fun than any pc or other platform minigolf game.

Singleplayer vs. Multiplayer: As minigolf is a game usually played with two or more people it is not very intelligent to rate it mostly based on a single player experience and then have ONE sentence in the conclusion which states that the game is quite fun in multiplayer.

"Out of bounds": If you look for example at this image http://www.minigolf-rendsburg.de/Bahnen/Bahn%208%2035.jpg you'll find out that it is quite common for some minigolf courses that you have to start from the beginning if you dont reach the area near the hole. That was ne for me either but it makes sense because the challenge of minigolf is to find out how you can make it directly towards the hole with one shot.

Difficulty: The author states the game will get very hard in medium and strong stage. I am no hardcore gamer but I find it very easy to do most courses in one or two strokes. Yes, there are two or three holes which I coulnd't finish when I played them first, but this is the same in real minigolf isn't it?!

Controls: I really hate the putting controls in the golf game of the so highly praised Wii Sports. In Fun! Fun! Minigolf the controls are so easy. You just have to hold the wiimote in a 45° degree down backwards, press A and the swing in the right moment with high, medium or low power. Thats all and it works perfect! Its not the problem of the game if some reviewers don't get it (sorry).

Conclusion: This game gives you 27 minigolf holes with many different obstacles and it is great fun to try to be the one with lowest number of strokes if you play against your friends. The only point I don't understand is that it has no high score list. But besides gameplay it also includes great graphics and the best is - it only costs you 9 Euro!

Please consider a new re-review for this game as your voice is very strong for wiiware games (only quoted review on metacritis and gamespot (where it gets user scores of 8.0 / 7.4!). From my point of view your review was unfair/not based on all facts and I think I gave you a list of arguments to consider. And no, I am in no way connected to the programmers, just defending their nice work.

Thanks for your comments. I'm sure you and many others will enjoy this game.

Just to clear up a misconception, we review games based on their gameplay, not on their single or multi-player aspect. In some cases games are different in multi-player and so require special mention. But in this case, the game plays exactly the same with more than one player as it does with one, so no extensive multi-player review was necessary.

Additionally, you stated that we gave this game a 'bad score'. However, a quick look at the score will show that we gave it a 6, which is specifically defined as "NOT BAD" . This means that while the game is not for everyone, there is a lot here to like and many people will enjoy it despite its flaws.

Some of my favorite games are 6's. This one apparantly is yours. Welcome to the club!

4.5/5 Broken Wii-motes on the frustration meterDon't waste your Wii Points. The addition of the "Out of Bounds" area has made this a overly annoying and frustrating game. While game play is ok, anyone who has ever played any mini-golf / putt-putt knows, you play the ball where it lies, not just when you get it close to the hole or "play area"

I rate this game as possibly THE worst purchase I've ever made from the WiiWare service. Let's run through the problems:

1) The motion controls are awful - worse than Wii Sports Golf. In fact, they're that bad I actually appreciated the rather pointless direction modifying 'feature'.2) The holes are boring, dull and repetitive.3) Why have the choice of four different characters if they have no handicaps? Is this feature in place for political correctness or what?4) The courses are TRULY unbalanced. I played the USA and Asia courses once and got a better score over the first six holes in Asia. Not that I can prove it because I have no proof thanks to the lack of records.5) Did I mention the holes are boring, dull and repetitive?6) The audio is grating. That includes the commentator.7) No scoreboard/achievement record = no reason to play again8) It's incredibly short for the asking price.

Ok. Now the good stuff:

1) The menu is easy to navigate despite the pointless task of choosing a character.2) The presentation of the menus is good if a little clinical.3) The graphics are good for WiiWare even if they are largely the same damned thing over and over again. The stone pavement texture is the highlight of the game whilst the shadows suck ass.4) What obstacles are on the holes are placed sensibly if not particularly creatively.

Summing up: I actually felt like I'd been abused after playing this game - in fact I felt like I had paid to be abused. Whilst I expected that with Mega Man 9, that game does it for all the RIGHT reasons.

I've been waiting for Nintendo to come out with mini-golf games since the 90s and even wrote to them about it. I guess I had to wait for them to become popular on computer consoles first. Well, I'm glad that they are. Now all they need to do is to come out with REALISTIC mini-golf games. As some others have said, this is more of a puzzle game than a mini-golf game. The same is true of Carnival of Games: Mini-golf as well. I actually opened everything and beat the game by renting it for three days. Once you learn how to play each hole then the replay value is almost pointless unless you're playing it with people who haven't played it yet. I was looking and hoping more for what the Wii Sports version of golf is. I've been playing it for almost a year and a half now and even have a high schore of -5! Anyway, I would've given it a rating of 5. Some of the courses are designed to restart from the original starting point and the obstructions aren't very hard to clear either.

Horrible Game. This was my first wiipoints purchase, and I was SO disappointed by it. It turned my stomach that I basically spent 9 bucks on this junkware. I won't buy another wiiware game without reading reviews first.

I was just reading this review for the upcoming 3ds version and I honestly can't believe there is someone who believes basically every Wii game is better looking than every GC game. There are many, many wii games with atrocious graphics, just as there are on any system.